The 2024 Aspiring Driver Shootout winner brings home a pair of solid finishes in two rough and tumble Toyota GR Cup races at COTA
AUSTIN, Texas (May 1, 2025) – PT Autosport with Copeland Motorsports’ Zach Hollingshead continued his Toyota GR Cup series learning curve last weekend, with the series rookie capturing a 12th and a 13th place finish in two races at Circuit of the Americas.
The 22-year-old Florida native survived two typically hard-fought GR Cup races behind the wheel of the No. 88 PT Autosport Toyota GR86 Cup Car, with each 45-minute contest filled with nonstop action throughout the 31-car field.
Hollingshead’s race weekend started slowly, as he attempted to learn a new racetrack while also working on car setup. A miscommunication among the team limited his running Thursday’s two test sessions, but a P10 in the second of two official practices on Friday – despite a track limits penalty that cost him his quick lap – showed his potential.
“Tough start to the weekend,” said Hollingshead. “But the team came back strong. They spent hours on my car on Friday, on the setup pad and with the engineers, so we were able to recover by FP2. The car was really good for FP2 but unfortunately, I lost my fast lap then the red limited my ability to get that back. But I’ve put all that behind me – the car is great and we’re hoping to be even faster on Saturday.”
Finding traffic throughout qualifying, Hollingshead started race one a disappointed P18. As the field came to the green flag later that afternoon, two simultaneous occurrences prevented a race start: one of the leaders began emitting a significant amount of smoke, while mid-field, two cars came together. With the field still in a bit of chaos, the race began in earnest on the next lap, with Hollingshead settling in quickly and battling not only traffic but a heat index nearing 90F.
By lap six, he had gained two positions into 16th – and on lap 8, Hollingshead put his No. 88 Toyota GR86 to the outside of two cars going up the front straight, with the trio battling hard and exchanging positions throughout the lap, with Hollingshead coming out in 15th. A late race caution bunched up the field, giving Hollingshead the chance to set up a move, taking 13th with nine minutes remaining. At the checkered flag, he had moved into 12th position, knowing there was more in himself and in the car.
“Bit of a rough day,” said Hollingshead. “I made up some spots but top 12 isn’t ideal. We’re always shooting higher but sometimes that’s the way it plays out. It was chaotic from the start, but I had good pace, and I think I could have been fighting for a top 10 – but the drivers around me were racing aggressively for 15th place, which made it tough to move forward. I really feel as though, if I’d been able to get clear track, I had the pace to run some good laps and chase those guys down, but that’s just the way it ended up. But I’m happy with the level I’m driving at so we’ll get at it again tomorrow.”
Setting his quickest lap of the weekend in race two qualifying Sunday morning (2:28.727), Hollingshead started 17th and quickly set about gaining positions, moving into 15th by the end of lap one. Leading a train of five cars, Hollingshead battled hard but fell back to 17th. A mid-race yellow bunched up the field 
and on the green, he retook those two positions. A late race caution left Hollingshead only six minutes to make a move – which he promptly did, taking the checkered flag in 13th position.
“There was some really aggressive racing out there, I was glad to come away with only a little bit of damage,” said Hollingshead. “I didn’t have the pace to get away, we just missed the mark a bit on setup. The heat affected things as well, especially in Saturday’s race. It was super, super hot – and these cars get extremely hot as well. Sunday wasn’t as bad but it was draining. So I’m glad to come away with a couple of decent finishes.”
Next up for PT Autosport with Copeland Motorsports will be the Toyota GR Cup doubleheader at Sebring International Raceway, May 16 to 18. The pair of 45-minute races will be broadcast live at www.grcup.com.
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